View full sizeJoshua Gunter, The Plain DealerColt McCoy took the majority of his snaps this year under center, but performed more productively from the shotgun. That reflects the growing number of NFL quarterbacks who arrive from extensive shotgun offenses in college, says Terry Pluto.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Pitchers and catchers may soon report, but this is Brownstown, so ...

About the Browns and the shotgun

1. One of the major issues for teams scouting the NFL draft is how so many college offenses are spread, with the quarterback receiving snaps from center at least five yards behind the line of scrimmage. Stanford's Andrew Luck is so loved by the pros in part because he typically took snaps straight from the center. Luck ran a variety of offenses at Stanford, and many scouts believe he is the most polished quarterback to come into NFL since Peyton Manning.

2. The Browns would love to grab Luck, and probably will try to at least make some attempt to deal for him. Indianapolis would be foolish to trade the pick and come back with only Peyton Manning for another season -- after Manning has had either three or four surgeries (depending on reports) on his neck.

3. That's why all the conversation is about the Browns and other quarterback-hungry teams trading up for with the Rams for the No. 2 pick, then taking Robert Griffin III. The Baylor quarterback has worked mostly out of the spread, one scout estimating more than 90 percent of his passes coming from the shotgun.

4. Last season, the Browns threw 47.7 percent of their passes from the shotgun, according to Profootballfocus.com. The Browns ranked 27th out of 32 teams. In 2010 when Pat Shurmur was in St. Louis calling the plays in the same West Coast offense (WCO), the Rams were in the shotgun 49.8 percent, ranking 25th. So that's about the same in both places.

5. Those stats reveal that Shurmur prefers his quarterback under center. At a press conference, I asked him why ... and he said it's because it gives the quarterback and more options in terms of running and passing plays. The father of the WCO, Bill Walsh, hated the idea of a quarterback in the shotgun. Walsh believed a quarterback could see the defense better from under center because he is closer to the line of scrimmage.

6. In 2010, the offense of Eric Mangini and Brian Daboll had quarterbacks in the shotgun 56 percent, ranking 15th.

7. On the field, it was about the same. In 2010, Browns quarterbacks had a 75.0 rating with 13 touchdowns compared to 18 interceptions. In 2011, it was a 72.8 rating with 16 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The shotgun is not a magic formula.

8. Teams do change. In 2010, Carolina ranked 17th (55.2 percent) before Cam Newton. After making the Auburn quarterback the No. 1 pick in the draft, the Panthers ranked sixth (69.4 percent). Denver stayed at No. 4, but increased the use of the shotgun from 65.5 percent to 73.8 percent with Tim Tebow.

9. Each year, the shotgun is being used more often. This season, 58.6 percent of passes were thrown from that formation.

10. Colt McCoy's QB rating was 69.2 under center with five touchdowns and six interceptions. It was 79.6 in the shotgun with nine touchdowns and fine interceptions. This is not say all will be well if only they let McCoy throw more from the shotgun. But it does show he is more effective there.

11. There are different versions of the WCO. Green Bay has its own, and the Packers were ninth (66.6 percent) in playing from the shotgun with Aaron Rodgers. New offensive coordinator Brad Childress and Shurmur are disciples of Andy Reid, and the Eagles were 17th (59.9 percent) in 2011, eighth (61 percent) in 2010 with Michael Vick.

12. The teams using it the most were Detroit (80.5 percent), Buffalo (75.1 percent) and New England (74 percent). The three lowest were Chicago (21.8 percent), Houston (33.9 percent) and Oakland (38.1 percent).

13. Members of the Browns coaching staff worked with Kevin Kolb and Sam Bradford when they came out of college -- and both were far more in the shotgun than under center. Both were able to make the adjustment, learning the footwork to drop back and throw.

14. So what's the point of all these numbers? I agree with Mike Mayock, who told the PD's Mary Kay Cabot: "If Cleveland moves up to get [Griffin], they have to make this kid comfortable. He's too explosive and too much of a playmaker to have him just sit there and read the triangle the West Coast offense is. In other words, Brad Childress and that group of coaches in Cleveland is going to have to change some things to make this kid the playmaker he is."

15. Browns defensive back Joe Haden and former Cavs broadcaster Joe Tait will be at the Wahoo Club Luncheon on March 3. For more information, call Bob Rosen at 440-724-8350 or go to wahooclub.com.

View full sizeScott Shaw, The Plain DealerThere's no hiding the affection Cavaliers fans have developed for rookie point guard Kyrie Irving.

About the Cavaliers...

1. Mike Wallace of ESPN's Heat Index on LeBron James toying with a return to Cleveland: "He should see a Cavaliers franchise that's just starting to regain its balance and feel-good footing with No. 1 pick Kyrie Irving as the clear face of the future. LeBron should know that interjecting himself into any aspect of that future -- even the possibility -- is borderline disrespectful to both the franchise his decision left in shambles as well as to his current employer, to which he's promised to deliver multiple cases of championship champagne."

2. What I'm hearing from fans is they like this team. They love Irving. As Justin Anthony posted on my Facebook page: "Right now the Cavs have a budding superstar who is unafraid of the big moment. And [Anderson] Varejao is a superstar in his own right. Don't need LeBron taking away from how exciting this team has been."

3. Yes, the Cavs have a losing record, but Irving has them looking forward. As Michael Enio Cassandra posted: "I hate even talking LeBron, considering how much I love this team. They are scrappy, exciting and have a real future."

4. James' scorched-earth exit is perfect for General Manager Chris Grant and Coach Byron Scott. They can help the team rise from the 26-game losing streak and the 19-63 record of last season to a young team with flaws, but also with a likeable star rookie and a no-nonsense veteran coach. Gary Zabukovec emailed about Irving's "guts, determination, desire" along with his willingness to pass. Other fans have told me how they enjoy Irving not dominating the ball and stopping the flow of the offense.

5. Scott is very upbeat. He told me about how he has to remind himself that Irving is only 19 and Tristan Thompson is 20. In his playing days, those kids were still in college. He wants Thompson to concentrate on rebounding and defense. In a sense, it's "play like Andy," a phrase that Scott sometimes uses with his team. Thompson is allowed to give the ball up to a teammate, even if the stats don't confirm it -- four assists in 373 minutes, are you kidding?

6. Scott on Varejao being out for 4-6 weeks with a broken wrist: "There aren't five guys who play as hard as he does ... maybe not even two."

7. Big men are like pitchers in baseball, teams want a lot of them -- and good ones are rare in a league increasingly ruled by point guards and wing players. There is Dwight Howard ... then who, in terms of great centers?

8. Most teams are playing 6-10 power forwards such as Varejao at center. Quick, who played center for the champion Dallas Mavericks last season? It was Tyson Chandler and Brendan Haywood, solid big men but not future Hall of Famers. The Heat start 6-9 Joel Anthony in the middle. That's why the Cavs are intrigued with Semih Erden. If he even becomes a 15-minute player, the 7-footer from Turkey is very valuable.

9. Remember the Delonte West deal with Minnesota? After all the pieces landed, the Cavs have Ramon Sessions, Ryan Hollins and Erden to show for it. Varejao's injury is a tremendous opportunity not only for Erden, but for Samardo Samuels and Thompson to receive extra minutes.

10. The Cavs talked about bringing up Manny Harris from Canton, but Scott likes Irving and Sessions playing together in the backcourt -- and they want to look at Ben Uzoh during this time when Daniel Gibson and Anthony Parker are hurt. Alonzo Gee starts at shooting guard, but then can slip to small forward when the Cavs play their two point men together. Harris scored 46 in a recent game and is averaging 20.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and shooting 46 percent in the D-League. He could be recalled if Sessions is traded.

View full sizeThomas Ondrey, The Plain DealerThe Indians will have to decide this spring whether Jack Hannahan's defensive prowess is more valuable than the offensive potential of third-base prospect Lonnie Chisenhall.

About the Indians...

1. The Indians insist there will be a real competition between Jack Hannahan and Lonnie Chisenhall at third base. They sound sincere, and perhaps that is the case. Or perhaps they want the 23-year-old Chisenhall not to take anything for granted. He hit .255 (.699 OPS) with seven homers and 22 RBI in 212 at-bats. Nothing sensational there, but he finished hitting .290 (29-of-100) with six homers and 15 RBI in his final 100 at-bats.

2. The case for Hannahan comes down to one word -- great defense. OK, that's two words. Saying "defense" when it comes to Hannahan is almost an insult, given how brilliantly he performed with the glove. He batted .250 (.719 OPS) with eight homers and 40 RBI in 320 at-bats, so he was decent at the plate.

3. Now, the new baseball math comes into play as the Tribe looks at third base. If Roberto Hernandez (Carmona) is in the rotation, they will have three of the top four pitchers allowing ground balls last season, according to Jonah Keri of grantland.com. Derek Lowe, Justin Masterson and Hernandez all had ground-ball rates of at least 55 percent, with Lowe at 59 percent. Ubaldo Jimenez was at 47 percent, and is over 50 for his career.

4. So the Indians may have four starters who will wear out the infielders. The Indians realize they must improve the defense, which was horrible at first, bad at second, decent at short and very good at third with Hannahan (five errors in 104 games). Chisenhall had 10 errors in 58 games, an alarming rate for a third baseman.

5. Casey Kotchman is a massive upgrade at first, where the Indians had 12 errors in 2011. Kotchman has only 11 in his big-league career and is known for his ability to dig throws out of the dirt. The Tribe believes converted outfielder Jason Kipnis has the athleticism to be acceptable at second, but he had six errors in 36 games last season. He'll open at second unless he has a spring collapse.

6. The stat gurus hate Asdrubal Cabrera at short because of his lack of range, but the man made only 15 errors in 151 games and seemed to be above average. The Indians have settled on Kipnis and Cabrera up the middle, and they are excited to see what Kotchman can do to help the defense at first.

7. But at third? At the very least, they can platoon Chisenhall and Hannahan. Yes, both are lefty hitters, but Hannahan batted .296 vs. lefties last season. They also can play Hannahan at third when Lowe (59 percent ground-ball rate) and Masterson (55 percent) pitch, with Chisenhall at third in the other games. Projected fourth starter Josh Tomlin (38 percent) is a fly ball pitcher, as is possible fifth starter Kevin Slowey (31 percent).

8. If Chisenhall has a poor spring, the Indians would not hesitate to send him to the minors. He's played only 66 games at the Class AAA level. But the fact is that Chisenhall and Kipnis are two keys to the Tribe's future. Part of last season was about finding the right time to expose them to the majors. If the Indians do expect to contend, they need both of this young infielders to produce, or scoring runs will be a huge problem in 2012.

A young fan and Gary Carter...

This email came from Chuck Nicklow in San Francisco:

"When I was an 11-year-old kid, I sat in the bleachers and watched Gary Carter hit two home runs to win the All Star Game MVP honors in Cleveland. The Kid, as he was known by his teammates, was one of my favorite players. Even though I was a die-hard Cleveland Indians fan, I had an Expos hat to prove it.

"After the game, I found him in the players lot, and he spent what felt like an eternity with me, almost one on one. Thirty years later, and I've never forgotten how special he made me feel on one of the biggest days of his career."

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